_ — - 
[Jan. 8, 1885. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
469 
from outside the State) twenty-one dollars,” Now every one 
knows that not one man in ten in our remote settlements 
eyen, is a guide or is in any way benefitted by this; but 
from long acquaintaince with guides I am convinced that 
the guide himself is not benefitted. There may be a few 
exceptions where men save their money, but the majority of 
guides while waiting at hotels between jobs, and in loss of 
time before they go at anv steady employment, are not as 
well off as they would be to worl steadily at one dollar per 
day. Ihave a good many times had to lend some of our 
very best guides who had been receiving three dollars a day, 
money enough to get them into the woods for their fall 
hunt. One who stands as high and has as much employment 
as any guide in this State, was for twenty years never able 
to leave Bangor without borrowing money of the writer, 
The main object of Mr, Wells in writing his articles, 
though he has tried hard to conceal it, is evidently to have 
the month of September left open for killing of deer and 
moose. Besides the reasons given by the editor of Forest 
AND SrrBAm and our Game Commissioners—which I believe 
to be valid and sufficient—there is what I regard as a much 
stronger reason why this should not be done, the fact that 
almost all of the iarge game killed in September will from 
necessity have to be wasted. I believe that Mr, Wells and 
others greatly overstate the amount of game in Maine. If 
the game ever increases so as to be an impediment to travel, 
or to be dangerous, the great majority of the people in our 
State would greatly prefer to haye January instead of 
Steptember added, as every potind would then be saved. 
Whether the opening of September would materially 
detrease the deer or not, it is certain it would soon extermin- 
ate our moose, as the Canadian French and Indians would 
have the same rights as other strangers, and with every one 
killing them for the hides, as they used to thirty years ago, 
the end of the moose it a few years would be a fixed fact, 
Having handled more than half of the hides of moose kilied 
in Maine for the last forty years, which have been brought 
into Maine for a market, and knowing when and how they 
were killed, I consider that to open the month of September 
for moose would be nearly as disastrous as to open the 
month of March for crust-hunting. Certainly much more 
Pesce, for much of the meat taken in March would he 
used. 
Mr. Wells quotes a letter from John 8. Danforth who 
says; ‘In the winter the lumbering companies are located in 
the very center of the fish and game, and each year their 
empioyees become moreubold, and are unmolested, The 
largest part of the crews are made up of French Canadians, 
who can be hired at from iwelve to fifteen dollars a month, 
These #renchmen are all hardy men, and instead of resting 
Sundays are either hunting or fishing, and during the long 
winters kill more game and fish than all the sportsmen who 
come here in summer put together.” 
My ow» observation has been far different from this. In 
all the time I have been in Maine lumber camps | have never 
tasted fresh fish or game of any kind. But not wishing to 
give my Own experience merely, I have taken pains to see a 
large number of our principal lumbermen, and those who 
have worked for many years as headmen in the camps. 
Mr, QO, A, Green reports having been in twenty-eight winters, 
mostly in Penobseot and Aroostook; never knew but one 
moose killed by any lumbermen; thinks half a bushel of fish 
would be as many as seen in all taken by his crews. Rodney 
Sutherland has been in some twenty-five winters; a few fish 
and one caribou are all he has ever known to he taken; his 
two crews of sixty men last winter did not catch a fish. Mr. 
Hben Thissell says his crew last winter had no gun, caught 
no fish; never in all his operations knew of a moose being 
killed by his men. Mr. Buzzell of Lincoln, who employs 
large numbers of mien, says three deer and perhaps fifty fish 
would cover all ever taken by his crews. Mr. John Ross, 
who has charge of more men, in the woods and on drives, 
than any other man in Maine, states that he has known but 
very few moose killed by lumbermen in all his life. In his 
judgment lumber crews do not, on an average, have enough 
fish for a mess once in 4 winter. Had seventy-five men last 
winter; killed no game and caught few fish; has not known 
a moose killed by any lumbermen for ten years. He now 
has eighty men, Yankees, French and Indians; they have 
not killed even a rabbit this year. Many others whom I 
have seen, made essentially the same statements. Lastly, to 
be certain how it was on the exact ground from which Mr. 
Danforth writes, I saw Mr. E. 5, Coe, who is well known as 
one of the largest timber owners in that region, and a gentle- 
man who personally visits his operations, He states that his 
men operating on his lands kill very little or no game, and 
catch very few fish. It will be remembered that the 
experience of most of these men covers from twenty to 
thirty years each and till within ten years there has been no 
attempt made to enforce game Jaws, so that their not killing 
fame was simply because they took no interest in the matter. 
Most of these men have bought for their crews some game 
kilied mainly by hunters who have acted as guides in the 
summer time. As Mr. Wells’s article refers entirely to 
camps in the remote wilderness, I have made no reference 
to camps near the settlements, in which it has usually beeu 
customary to killa few deer for camp use. Almost every 
one of the above mentioned gentlemen before answering my 
questions said: ‘‘Our men are too tired Sundays to want to 
hunt, It would be no object to them either if they did, as 
they would get nothing for it. They have all they can do 
Sunday to wash clothes, shave, mend clothes, mittens, 
Moccasins, etc., without doing any hunting. In all the 
hides I have ever bought, amounting sometimes to five 
hundred in a season, I have never bought one that | knew 
was killed by a lumberman while he was employed by the 
month. Most of these gentlemen speak of the great 
destruction 3f timberland, caused by visiting sportsmen who 
go beyond the settlements. They estimate this destruction 
to amount to more than all the money paid out by this class. 
Tf Mr. Danforth and Mr. Wells knew of any such destruction 
of game by lumbermen, why in the name of common sense 
have they kept silence all these years instead of notifying 
Commissioner Stanley of Dixfield, or Detective Wormwell 
of Bethel, who were close by them? 
Mr. Wells states in his article of Noy. 13 in speaking of 
trout; ‘This change would work an injury to the human 
residents of that region out of all proportion to the slight 
reduction in number of the trout which the proposed change 
would save—a saving by no means necessary as yet, at least 
since the supply is still superabundant.” In his letter of 
Dec. 20 he says: ‘‘Do these gentlemen realize the fact that 
trout fishing * * for the three seasons last past has 
greatly deteriorated throughout a large portion of the Muine 
wilderness? J assign no reason forthis I hope and believe 
the change is due merely to fortiitous, and not permanent 
causes.” I do not attempt to reconcile his two statements 
ee _ 
which seem to be at variance with each other, but will speak 
of the latter, which is the truth. Our trout fishing in many 
places has deteriorated, and it has been due mostly to the 
manner in which they have been wasted for a long series of 
years by visitors from outside the State, As far back as 
1858 L saw two gentlemen waste fully three hundred pounds 
in one day at Kineo. The keeper of the house ou being 
asked how many he thought were wasted at his house in a 
year gave his estimate as two and a half tons. He said it 
was an everyday occurrence for two to three hundred pounds 
of fish to be wasted. If space permitted I could give pages 
of evidence, giving names and dates to prove how our fish 
haye been wasted, Many guides even do not consider it for 
their self-interest to check this waste even if they could, 
which is very doubtful. J overheard a lot of guides dis- 
cussing the waste of fish about as follows. Said one: “At 
this rate the fish soon will all be gone aud we shall have 
nothing to do,” Another rejoined: ‘*The sooner they are 
gone here the better, as now we only get short jobs, but 
thesc men will haye fish, and after they are all gone here, 
they must ¢o further for them and it will be better for us,” 
This waste has heen made mainly by non-residents, as_ the 
greater part of the fish caught by the people of our State 
are caught to eat. Among our numerous Visitors are many 
who will not catch to waste, but who unhook and let go all 
uninjured fish for which they have no use. And in this 
connection let me say, speaking of what visiting sportsmen 
do, I do not, as Mr. Wells has very unfairly charged our 
Fish Commissioners with doing, include all who visit us in 
one class, While we have many of all professions who come 
both to hunt and fish, who are strictly temperate, do not 
waste our game, and who observe our laws, it is a painful 
fact that we have those of most professions who visit us, 
who conduct themselves in a very different manner. 
Mr. Wells takes exception to what our Commissioners 
have said respecting the conduct of this class. I would say 
squarely that they are justified in every word that they have 
said. If this statement is challenged a large amount of proof, 
with names and dates of those who have violated our laws, 
and particulars of the manner in which it was done, can be 
siven. Mr. Wells also takes occasion to speak of our lum- 
bermen in the following manner: ‘‘Considering the un- 
bridled license not unfrequently exhibited on the annual 
drive by the lumbermen within the confines of the settle- 
ments themselves, | had thought that it was unreasonable to 
expect an officer of the law to intrude into their midst with 
hostile intent, when they were banded together in the wil- 
derness and he was far from succor. For my part, 1 would 
about as. soon venture into a den of tigers.” Considering the 
outrageous statements he has made about them, I scarcely 
wonder that he feels so, and would dread being seen 
alone by the many be has slandered. Jt is true 
that when the drives are near settlements where rum 
can be obtained, our river drivers are often disorderly; but 
in all I have been among these men when in this condition, 
I have never received an uncivil word, which is more than I 
can say for visiting sportsmen, When in the woods, where 
no liquor can be obtained, there is no more peaceable and 
well behaved set of men in the United States than an aver- 
age lumber crew. An officer going into a crew to arrest a 
man for cause, would have no more reason to fear violence 
in taking or carrying out a prisoner, except from the pris- 
oner himself, than he would in doing the same in any church 
in our jand. LEyery lumberman I have conversed with has 
laughed at the idea of a man’s being afraid to go into a lum- 
ber crew. 
Speaking of men when under the influence of liquor, let 
me say I haye met with a much greater proportion of drunk- 
enness among sportsmen outside of the settlements than I 
ever did of lumbermen inside. Lumbermen rarely carry 
liquor into the woods; a great many of our visiting 
sportsmen do, in lJarge quantities. I have a copy of 
the kinds and quantity of liquor—amounting to three 
gallons—drank by three men in three days of Septem 
ber, 1882, at Gassabeis Lake. On the same trip I met 
with two men ana three guides who, by their own state- 
ment. had started with four gallons of liquorand used it 
up in nine days. The trip before I met four men 
who said that with the aid of a shanty keeper whom they 
had met, they had drank a gallon of rumin one night, [ 
have seen worse actions by men who, when sober, were per- 
fect gentlemen, than ever I saw among any Penobscot lum- 
bermen. Names and particulars given if requested. Mr. 
Wells gives a touching picture of the sorrow of wives and 
children of guides if the month of September is closed. If 
he had seen the sorrow occasioned by the intemperance of 
guides who had iearned it from visiting sportsmen, and had 
seep his best friends, as | have, degenerate from the best of 
men to common drunkards from the same cause, he would 
draw a very different, though not a less pathetic picture. 
Mr, Wells represents that the larger part of our State 
favors such a change. Speaking in behalf, and at the re- 
quest, of a large number of our citizens of al] classes, includ- 
ing hunters, 1 will say that the only changes I have ever 
heard asked for in this section are that the time on caribou 
and perhaps moose may be extended; that people be allowed 
to catch fish at legal time in winter, with set lines, under the 
same restrictions in quantity as in summer; thut those hay- 
ing killed game in legal time be allowed to remove the same 
by railroad to their homes. Those changes we hope in time 
to see made. Many Harpy. 
A Fox AstrEp.—Swanton, Vt., Jan, 1.—One October 
day Iwas hunting squirrels along a rocky ridge, covered 
with timber, when I saw something red on a rock. On 
nearing it I concluded it was a fox curled up fast asleep, I 
fired and killed a fine large red fox. The wind was blowing 
quite strong directly from where the fox lay toward me, or 
I should not have caught him napping. This was nota 
yery sportsmanlike way of shooting game. But there are 
some kinds of game 1 feel justified in shooting if one can 
catch them asleep, such, for instance, as foxes and weasels. 
I would like to know if any pne else has ever caught a fox 
asleep and killed him.—WN. D. 
Two Por SHots.—Macon, Ga., Dec. 30,—While out 
turkey hunting on Dec. 26, in company with two friends 
(R. H, B, and R, H, K.), we found several coveys of quail, 
The day was very damp, cold and disagreeable, and the birds 
were little disposed to run, H, K. having an opportunity 
to potshot a covey, killed cight on the ground and one more 
as the residue rose to fly. Having found acovey afterward, 
und no turkeys haying been bagged, I took occasion to out- 
shoot my friend, and followed his unsportsmanlike example, 
but killed only six. I have never known two more success- 
ful shots in one day, and this is the first ground shot for me 
this season.—I. H, J. 
‘protect the gun against mist and rain. 
THe New Suenzt,—Poughkeepsie, Jan. 3, 1884,—My 
attention has been called to the U. M. C. Co.’s ‘‘combination 
shot shell, paper lined.” Being favorably impressed by what 
I read of the shell I obtained samples for examination and 
trial, 'The proper trial 1 cannot give for some time to come, 
owing to circumstances. But Iam pleased with the exami- 
nation I have given it in every particular except one, and 
that may prove to be a decided benefit in guns of a certain 
make. Its interior diameter being less than that of ordinary 
brass or paper shells, may in a measure destroy the effect of 
chokebore in the gun, which to my mind would be a ereat 
gain. I am no friend to chokebored suns, except when 
they are kept as curiosities, to be used on rare occasions, and 
am glad to see that this creze has about had its run, My 
fear of the new shell is that it may injure the shooting of the 
good old-fashioned cylinder gun, causing it to shoot too 
scattering, thus destroying the ‘‘happy medium” it possesses 
between the ancient blunderbuss and the ‘‘too too” modern 
chokebore. Therefore I hope the new shell may have a fair 
target trial by severa] disinterested parties as to pattern and 
penctration, and that they will report through the Fornst 
AND STREAM.—d@, H. D. 
PHILADELPHIA Notrres.—Our river is full of floating ice, 
and duck shooters below Wilmington are taking advantage 
of its presence, and can paddle very close to the small flocks 
of fowl] that remain with great success. The ducks that are 
being sent to the Philadelphia markets from this bay are in 
poor condition owing to the scarcity of food, as the marshes 
are frozen up. Asthe 15th of January draws near, after 
which date it will be illegal to offer quail or ruffed grouse 
for sale, many birds are being put upon the market. Good 
quail can be now purchased at $1.75 to $2 per dozen. Rufted 
grouse are correspondingly low, and a good supply of both 
pinnated and sbarp-tailed grouse are awaiting purchasers. 
Notwithstanding the law expires Jan. 165, all varieties of 
game can be readily procured until spring, and the bills of 
fare of the leading hotels and restaurants will openly offer it 
to their patrons even though it is finable to do so, We 
sadly miss the active work of the once flourishing Philadel- 
phia Game Protective Society, and it is hoped that the Phil- 
adelphia Kennel Club willin the near future extend its 
work, procure the old charter of the Game Protective 
Society, and protect the game interests of our State.—Homo. 
- West Virerta.—Beverly.—Hditor Horest and Stream: 
Deer have been rather scarce the past season, hunters meet- 
ing with but limited success. Wild turkeys are plentiful, 
yet, strange to say, but few indeed have been killed. They 
are by far the most difficult game to approach in the moun- 
tain ridges, for upon the least alarm they will fly from one 
ridge to another. The ground has been either dry or frozen 
or both most of the season, the worst possible condition for 
still-hunting. Small game is not so plentiful as formerly, 
grouse especially being scarce where they formerly swarmed. 
They have not been killed off by the hunters. I can only _ 
account for the scarcity upon the ground of the alarming 
increase for a year or two of foxes, hawks and other ‘‘var- 
mint.” My eldest boy, who is just large enough to begin 
to swing a single B. L. 12-bore this season, has a great tact 
for outgeneraling these prowling gentry, and the way he 
has decimated their ranks about home is quite refreshing.— 
BAGKWOODS. 
Usk ror THE Trn Can.—A. large black cat, a pet in the 
house where I live, was found dead this morning frozen stiff, 
with 2 common tin salmon can drawn tightly over his head. 
A small quantity of salmon remaining in the bottom of the 
can, the marks of numerous scratches on the sides of the 
can, and a swollen head told the story of temptation and 
ruin plainer than any amount of eloquence. He had- evi- 
dently been attracted, during his nocturnal wanderings, by 
the smell of the remaining fish in the can. Thrusting his 
head, with no thought of the ‘“‘spring locks” in the shape of 
inverted ragged edges of the tin, and being unable to with- 
draw that very uecessary feline appendage, strangulation 
and this obituary were the result. Perhaps this may suggest 
a plan which might with profit be introduced into more than 
one cat-haunted back yard, as well as a way of utilizing the 
omnipresent tin can.—C, H, I. 
SQuIRREL AND Woopoeruck Or ror Guns.—OF the eight 
fox squirrels which we killed in November last during our 
two days’ hunt on Spoon River, Fulton county, Illinois, two 
af them weighed two pounds six ounces each, and gave over 
an ounce each of tried oil, of which there is none better to 
Woodchuck oil is 
also very superior for this purpose. Both of these oils have 
great body, and gum just enough, when well laid on, to 
form an impervious coating to rain or moisture. They give 
a fine gloss to the wood or metal, and this remains til worn 
off by use. The best investment a hunter can make is to 
kill a fat cloyer-fed woodchuck, from which he can get near 
a pint of tried oil, and if into this a charge of shot or some 
pieces of lead be thrown and left, the oil will become very 
pure indeed; none equals it for durability in guns, as it does 
not evaporate away like other oils, but sticks.—H. W. 
MERRILL. 
ReywaRp In Town.—While out squirrel hunting a few 
days ago, Mr. G. P. Morosini, Jr., spied a fox near the top 
of a tall cedar, and gave him the contents of his shofgun in 
the side of his head. Reynard tumbled to the ground, but 
led the hunter a lively chase before being captured, and not 
till one of his legs was disabled by another shot did he sur- 
render. The animal was found near Mr. Morosini’s resi- 
dence, on the bank of the Hudson River, a few hundred 
yards north of the dividing line between New York city 
and Yonkers.—O. L. 8. 
Carreou in New Hampsurre.—Colebrook, N. H., Dec. 
29,—I reported no caribou killed in the State this year. The 
reason is not on account of the absence olf the animal, as 
eight or nine made Second Lake a visit recently.. Four of 
them seeing a team crossing the lake turned from their 
course and followed it some distance, giving the driver play 
ful exhibitions of their curiosity. The winter is a 1apid suc- 
cession of changes ot over 70 degrees in this valley.—Nup 
Norton. 
Wirnetron, N. C., isto havea gun club. A commit- 
tee, consisting of W. R. French, J. ©, Lodor, B. G. Empie 
and Wm. H. Bernard has been appointed to prepare a con- 
stitution and by-laws and report at a meeting to be called by 
the committee. Much interest is manifested by the sports- 
tien, and the prospects of the club are highly encouraging. 
